Steam or Dry
 

I would like to know your opinion on pressing seams and bindings. Do you steam or dry and why? I have tried both and still in a quandry of what to use. What about those pressing sprays? Would they be better with a dry iron as a working pair? Or would steam in the irom work better?

I steam all the time. I rarely dry iron. I feel I get a crisper press with steam

I'm exactly the opposite. I prefer a dry iron. I rarely use steam unless I'm fusing something and it requires steam.

Cari

I do both. Mostly it depends on if the starch or spray is out of reach then I don't use it. If the iron is out of water I press dry. I do starch my fabric very stiff before cutting.

I use steam and starch to get anything to lay flat! :)

Best Press or starch with a dry iron. I do steam press the backing and use starch before making the quilt sandwich. It helps me with straight seams, making each block come out the same size and no wrinkles.

I have a Clover II mini iron for pressing the seams. It doesn't have a steam function & I find I don't need it. I generally use a LOT of starch, but for seams I mostly just press & go. If it's being especially stubborn, I might mist it with a bit of water to reactivate the starch that's already in my fabric from the first times I pressed it (press before cutting & pressed after cutting, both with heavy starch). But usually that isn't necessary.

This is my method as well. I do let the starch soak into the fabric for a few seconds at least before ironing/pressing. Seems to be more effective that way vs laying on top of the fabric. Plus no flakes.

Thank you for your replies. I think that I will try a few of your ideas to see which work for me. Thank you again.

I'm a dry iron guy... I use steam to shrink or shape fabrics, but that is mostly for garment sewing not quilting.

I seem to kill the steam part of my irons and I'm tired of buying a new one just about every year. And since the iron works otherwise I decided to just spray mist when necessary. I starch my fabrics before I cut them and I let them dry completely then take them to the pressing table misting them as I press the wrinkles out. Then during the block assembly I usually use a dry iron till I get to the part where the block is completed. Then I give it a misting and pressing before attaching it to the row. I like nice crisp blocks and it seems easier to press each block flat before assembling it to the row. Then if necessary I'll press the entire row again if its gotten flimsy on me.

I have 3 irons that work great excluding the steam part. My real expensive one I somehow broke the cap so can get it off to add water to it. I keep that one at the quilting frame and just mist the area in question and then run the iron over it to get rid of the fullness.

My iron stopped having steam years ago. I mainly use the dry iron with Best Press. If I need steam then I spray water on my item and iron it. Works for me.

Usually steam--if dry I generally will use Best Press,too.

Best press with a dry iron and press. If I use steam I stretch or distort the fabric no idea why but it always happens.
i prefer best press as it is not too stiff.